Page 22 of Flash and Bang
“Of course, Ada.” He nodded.
“So, coffee?” Snow asked.
“Coffee sounds good,” Thayne added. “We’ll follow you.”
They walked out into the parking lot only to find a black SUV with government plates in the front of the lot.
“Feds,” Jarrett sneered as they walked to his Jeep.
“You do realize we’re Feds too, Jarrett?” Thayne pointed out with a sideways grin.
“Humph,” his partner grunted.
That brought a smile to Thayne’s face. Theygot to the Jeep and Jarrett drove it to where Snow and Terraciano were pulling out onto the main highway, headed to a local shopping mall where Thayne knew they had a Starbucks. Instead, the SUV pulled into a Denny’s restaurant parking lot. He rubbed his belly. Food did sound good now that he thought about it.
“We need to know why Homeland thinks this may be linked to terrorism,” Jarrett said before they got out of the Jeep. “But, if Terraciano keeps up with the military cracks, I’m gonna lose it.”
Thayne glanced over at him. “I was thinking the same thing, Jarrett. It’s best to keep a cool head if we want to get something out of these agents, though.”
Jarrett nodded. “You think we should share what we found regardin’ the religious angle?” he suddenly asked.
Thayne looked over at him to see if he was mocking him. He couldn’t find any trace of it and he relaxed, not even really realizing that he thought Jarrett might be making fun of his theory that a religious fanatic could be involved. He sighed. “I suppose, but then it’s just a gut feeling with me, Jarrett. I’m not sure putting it out there wouldn’t make us sound crazy.”
Jarrett nodded. “Okay, I’ll follow your lead then.”
Thayne nodded as they got out of the Jeep and met the FBI agents at the front door of the restaurant. “You must have been hungry,” Thayne said with a smile.
“I realize it’s still not really lunch time yet but my partner doesn’t eat breakfast so lunch is very important to him,” Special Agent Snow said, hooking a thumb at his partner.
“And I’m sure ya have a huge appetite after the scent of all that burnt flesh,” Jarrett snipped. Thayne couldn’t help but smile. Terraciano rolled his eyes at him as he opened the door. They all walked inside and waited for a waitress to seat them in a booth at the back of the restaurant where they wouldn’t be overheard. After giving their drink orders, Jarrett leaned across the table, keeping his voice low.
“So, ya wanna tell us why Homeland is involved in this?” Jarrett got right to the point.
“The Bureau has intelligence that there is a smuggling ring bringing fireworks up from Mexico in transports which have no DOT authorizations,” Special Agent Snow said. “So far, the Mexican officials have tracked the shipments from the portcity of Valparaiso, Chile, into Mexico. It seems they originate in China and then are picked up when they dock there. From there, they’re distributed north through South America and into Mexico and then into the US by truck. The Mexicans have been able to stop some of the trucks but others have made it across the border before being intercepted so we fear we haven’t gotten all of them.”
“Chile? That seems like a stretch,” Thayne said in complete surprise.
“We thought so too but that’s what’s happening. The CIA on the ground in South America confirms it. They’ve been able to plant tracking devices on the shipping containers at the point where they originate in Chile,” Terraciano replied.
“The CIA is involved in this?” Jarrett asked.
Thayne looked over at his partner, a little surprised that he was so cool about it but he imagined Jarrett had probably had a lot of contact with the CIA since he’d done so many overseas missions while in the service.
“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Terraciano said snidely.
Thayne watched the hackles rise on Jarrett’s back. He could tell when his partner was pissed andfed up with something and Thayne knew if he didn’t diffuse the situation, Jarrett was going to deck the annoying FBI suit. Fortunately for them all, their waitress arrived with coffees all around. She set them down and then took their food orders. Jarrett stuck with coffee and Thayne opted for a bowl of fruit. He knew they’d be going back to one of those breweries if he had his way tonight, but coffee alone wasn’t gonna cut it until then. His partner was way too wound up to eat at the moment and Thayne was rapidly getting there.
“Thanks,” Jarrett muttered. “Can we keep this civil, Special Agent Terraciano?”
“Good idea,” Special Agent Snow said. “I don’t really know why we can’t all cooperate here. We’re on the same team.”
“Okay, fine,” Jarrett said as Thayne opened his mouth, about to agree with Special Agent Snow. “So you think you have smugglers bringin’ fireworks across the border from Mexico but what’s the correlation with smuggling and terrorism and how does the Bureau think this particular San Diego incident connects? Proximity to the Mexican border or somethin’ else?”
“Both actually. Proximity to the border would make sense since the pyrotechnics experts might betempted to buy stuff on the cheap from an illegal supplier who is connected to the smugglers while they’re down here.”
“Well, the wife of the lead pyrotechnician who died in the blast, said that her crew watched them unload the truck, and Investigator Carrillo already checked with DOT to make sure the load had the proper HAZMAT placards on the truck and paperwork on file,” Jarrett replied.
“That doesn’t mean she or her husband didn’t pick up some other fireworks along the way,” Snow added.